Shirt collar securing arrangement

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for securing a shirt collar to the body of the shirt is disclosed. A stay, disposed on the underside of the collar is provided with a downwardly projecting end portion adjacent the tip of the collar. Means on the shirt body receive the end portion of the stay so that the collar tip is held against the shirt body.

llnite States tet [191 [11] 33mm Scott Uct. 7, 11975 [54] SHIRT COLLAR SECURING 2,110,580 3/1938 Seacord 2/1l6 ARRANGEMENT [76] Inventor: Julian Scott, 225 E. 57th St., New P i E i -G V, Larkin York, N-Y- 10022 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby &

22 Filed: Feb. 20, 1975 Cushma [211 App]. No; 551,504

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 337,207, March 1, 1973,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 2/132 [51] lint. Cl. A41B 3/00 [58] Field of Search 2/129-132, 2/134, 116; 223/1 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,845,884 2/1932 Marinsky 2/132 [57] ABSTRACT An arrangement for securing a shirt collar to the body of the shirt is disclosed. A stay, disposed on the underside of the collar is provided with a downwardly pro jecting end portion adjacent the tip of the collar. Means on the shirt body receive the end portion of the stay so that the collar tip is held against the shirt body.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Oct. 7,1975

US. amnt SHIRT COLLAR SECURING ARRANGEMENT This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 337,207 filed Mar. 1, 1973 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Use The present invention relates to improvements in shirt collars and particularly to an arrangement for se curing a shirt collar to the body of the shirt while maintaining stiffness in the collar.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is clear at the outset that there are a number of devices available which have been successfully utilized for maintaining stiffness in shirt collars, the most common of which is the conventional collar stay which is positioned in the area of the forward edge of the collar. Such stays encourage the shirt to lie close to the shirt body, but they are not totally satisfactory in this function since there is nothing to positively hold the collar securely against the shirt body.

This problem has been approached one way by the use of the conventional button-down collar. Wires, zipper tape, spring loaded devices, small metal weights and various collar attachments also have been tried. Each of these devices has shortcomings which are either related to appearance considerations or complexity of use.

Additionally, in another shirt style, namely one utilizing the so-called roll-collar, difficulty has been encountered in maintaining the collar properly oriented. Resilient stays, which are formed in proper configura tion for maintaining the collar rolled, have been used. However, such a method of maintaining such collars in the desired configuration has proven to be unsatisfactory since the collars often do not remain in the positions to which they are adjusted and eventually become misaligned, and therefore unsightly.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement which obviates the disadvantages and limitations of the described prior art by positively securing the collar to the shirt body while maintaining the collar stiff.

It is another object to provide an improved shirt collar which is easily adaptable to shirts presently marketed.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a shirt collar arrangement which is functional and yet invisible during use.

These objects are accomplished by providing the collar with a stay disposed on the underside of the collar and having a downwardly projecting end portion adjacent the collar tip. Means such as a loop are provided on the shirt body to receive the end portion thereby securing the collar to the shirt body.

The invention now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a shirt collar utilizing the present invention with a portion of the collar underside exposed to show one form of a collar-securing arrangement;

FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention showing a variation in the securing arrangement; and

FIG. 3 illustrates the present invention adapted for use with a roll-type collar.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention, as noted above, is intended to maintain stiffness in the collar and to secure the collar tip to the shirt body so that the collar appears neat all the time. Heretofore, difficulties have been encountered in maintaining the collar tip adjacent the shirt body without some visible means, such as buttons.

However, in FIG. 1 a shirt 10 is shown having a conventional collar 11 with collar tips 12 and 13. In FIG. 1, the collar is turned up at tip 12 to illustrate the elements which comprise the present invention. Conventional collars have at least two layers of material between which there may be disposed pockets positioned adjacent the forward edges of the collar to receive stays to stiffen the collar. The slots formed in such a collar to permit entry to the pockets usually are disposed adjacent the area of joinder between the collar and the shirt body. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the pockets 14 are disposed in the underside of collar 11 with entry slots 15 positioned! adjacent the collar tips 12 and 13. The collar stays 16 are inserted into the pockets 14 via slots 15 to maintain the stiffness of the collar when the same is turned down against the body of the shirt, as can be seen in the left-hand portion of FIG. 1.

The collar stays 16 are of the conventional type comprising unitary pieces of semi-rigid material, such as celluloid, each having a tapered end 17. The end 17 of each stay protrudes from the slot 15 such that it lies along the underside of the shirt collar. An arrangement 18 is formed on the shirt body to receive each of the tapered ends 17 of the collar stays. These arrangements 18 preferably are loops of thread or elastic material stitched to the shirt. The collar tips 12 and 13 are neatly held by loops 18 against the body of the'shirt while the stays 16 serve to stiffen the collar.

In the arrangement of FIG. .1, the collar stays 16 are shown as being removable from the pockets 14. However, it should be appreciated that the stays also can be permanently fixed to the collar. This may be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, the stays may be held within their pockets with only their tapered ends exposed by suitable stitching. Also, the pockets may be eliminated in favor of appropriate stitching to secure fully exposed stays to the underside of the collar, or alternatively, the stays may be adhered to the collar by suitable adhesives.

FIG. 2 illustrates a stay 16 attached to collar 1 1 in the latter manner just described. Instead of a loop 18, the means for securing the tapered end 17 of the stay to the shirt body comprises an arrangement 19, identical to a button hole, which receives the end 17 to hold the collar tip 12 in place against the shirt body.

It is apparent that the loop 118 of the FIG. 1 embodiment, and the button hole type arrangement shown in FIG. 2, should be appropriately dimensioned to receive and hold the exposed ends of the stays 16. This is particularly necessary in the case where the stays are removable so as to prevent the stays from slipping out of place. Secure fastening between the stays l6 and the shirt body also can be facilitated by appropriate variations in configuration of the tapered ends 17 of the stays so as to cooperate with the stay receiving arrangement on the shirt body.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3. This embodiment relates to a collar which is designed to have a rolled look which, as previously mentioned, is difficult to maintain. To achieve such a look, the loop 18 is disposed closer to the seam where the shirt collar 11 meets the shirt body than in the embodiment of FIG. 1 where the loop 18 is located in general alignment with the projecting end 17 of the stay when the collar is laid flat against the shirt body. The decreased distance of loop 18 from the shirt-collar seam in FIG. 3 causes the stay 16 to form an are when its end 17 is received in loop 18 thereby rolling the collar.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the present invention permits the maintenance of stiffness in a shirt collar while retaining the collar tips neatly against the shirt body at all times.

While there have been described what at present are considered to be the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is therefore intended in the appended claims to cover such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A shirt construction comprising:

a shirt body;

a collar attached to said body; and

means for securing a tip of said collar to the shirt body, said securing means including:

a semi-rigid collar stay having an upper end retained on the underside of said collar and having an exposed lower end adjacent said tip; and

means on said shirt body located immediately adjacent the collar tip when the collar is lying against the shirt body in its normal position of wear for slidably receiving said exposed lower end of the stay and holding same to the shirt body to thereby secure the tip to the shirt body while permitting relative movement between the collar tip and the shirt body.

, 2. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said receiving means comprises a loop attached to said shirt body.

3. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 2, wherein said loop is formed of an elastic material.

4. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 2, wherein said loop is positioned in alignment with the exposed end portion of the stay when the collar is positioned substantially fiat against the shirt body.

5. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 2, wherein said loop is positioned in alignment with the exposed end portion of the stay when the collar is positioned so as to be in a rolled configuration. 

1. A shirt construction comprising: a shirt body; a collar attached to said body; and means for securing a tip of said collar to the shirt body, said securing means including: a semi-rigid collar stay having an upper end retained on the underside of said collar and having an exposed lower end adjacent said tip; and means on said shirt body located immediately adjacent the collar tip when the collar is lying against the shirt body in its normal position of wear for slidably receiving said exposed lower end of the stay and holding same to the shirt body to thereby secure the tip to the shirt body while permitting relative movement between the collar tip and the shirt body.
 2. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said receiving means comprises a loop attached to said shirt body.
 3. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 2, wherein said loop is formed of an elastic material.
 4. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 2, wherein said loop is positioned in alignment with the exposed end portion of the stay when the collar is positioned substantially flat against the shirt body.
 5. A shirt construction as set forth in claim 2, wherein said loop is positioned in alignment with the exposed end portion of the stay when the collar is positioned so as to be in a rolled configuration. 